MTN gets final licence from CBN to operate payment service bank

MTN Nigeria has been granted final approval to operate mobile money (MoMo) payment service bank (PSB) licence in Nigeria.

MTN announced that it has been given permission to operate the bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and that it would soon offer financial services under the licence requirements.

MTN Group had first announced in November 2021 its move towards getting final approval of the licence, saying it was subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions as stipulated by the CBN.

As it is, with the PSB licence, MTN Nigeria will offer a wider range of mobile financial services beyond the traditional person-to-person (P2P) /MoMo mobile money transfers such as lending and bill payments.

A document sighted and signed by the Company Secretary, Uto Ukpanah, titled ‘the Central Bank of Nigeria Grants Final Approval for MoMo Payment Service Bank Limited (Momo PSB)’, reads: “We refer to our notification issued on November 5, 2001, in which we communicated receipt of the approval in principle from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for MoMo Payment Service Bank Limited (MoMo PSB).”